Mike Rawlinson opened CrossFit Leeds after leaving an unfulfilling career at a financial company.

“I took a leap of faith and never looked back, really,” he says. “That was four-and-a-half years ago.”

Members at the affiliate in Leeds, England, are all smiles and boast stories of support and improved health.

“The whole CrossFit ethos is about making sure everyone is doing their best and getting to scale to where they need to be and grow to where they want to end up,” says member Matthew Cafferty.

“It’s a pretty big journey,” he adds.

Rawlinson recently opened a second affiliate—CrossFit Leeds The Forge—in a suburb of Leeds called Kirkstall. Kirkstall is home to the oldest forge in the country, dating back to the 12th century. The affiliate’s name alludes to the history of iron forging and producing quality steel, Rawlinson says, referencing the CrossFit Inc. trademark “Forging Elite Fitness.”

While membership continues to grow, Rawlinson strives to keep the “old-school” feel at both affiliates.

“I think that’s what a lot of people come for is the community,” he says. “They enjoy coming in, seeing their friends, and training and having fun. And then sometimes just going out and grabbin’ a beer.”

The CrossFit Journal is a chronicle of the empirically driven, clinically tested, and community developed CrossFit program. Our mission is to provide a venue for contributing coaches, trainers, athletes, and researchers to ponder, study, debate, and define fitness and collectively advance the art and science of optimizing human performance.